Many computer systems include removable circuit board assemblies or cards housed or enclosed in a chassis and interconnected to a common backplane. In some systems, the chassis includes a card cage which comprises a permanent structure into which cards are supported adjacent one another. In other systems, the chassis includes a removable card cage which supports a plurality of cards within a single unit or module, wherein insertion of the card cage into the rest of the chassis results in connection of each card to a common backplane.
In most systems, the chassis or card cage portion of the chassis is formed from relatively thin lightweight material, such as sheet metal. To provide adequate strength to the chassis and to prevent deformation of the chassis during assembly, transport or use, the sheet metal or other material forming walls of the chassis are commonly bent or deformed along edges of the walls of the chassis to increase the strength of the walls. Unfortunately, such bending of the walls of the chassis creates cavities which are difficult to fill with internal components of the computer such as removable cards. As a result, the interior of such cavities is unutilized and constitutes wasted dead space.